[keysersoze123]

Or would audiophiles argue music should always be listened to in 2 speaker stereo, even SACD?

Personal experiences would be interesting too,

Thanks

[andy1249]

A lot of SACD's are stereo , in which case they should be listened to in Stereo.

Some SACD's are hybrids , with a Stereo track and a Multichannel mix , the Stereo track should again be listened to in Stereo , but the Multichannel is meant to be listened to on a surround system and should be listened to that way.

Some SACD's are multichannel only , ( whats the story morning glory is one example ) and should only be listened to on a multichannel system.

In any case , most SACD's are of a higher resolution that a standard CD , usually in the region of 24bit/96Khz and should be a marked improvement over the CD version if one exists.

Usually Audiophiles would promote listening to whatever track is being played as it was meant to be played with as little alteration as possible , so in the case of Multichannel mixes you would expect them to listen that way. Such a track forcibly mixed down to stereo is no kind of way to be listening to such material.

[simenfiber]

I personally prefer stereo. I don't have much multi channel music, but the little I have listened to I find very fatiguing. I guess it's because I'm not used to the music blasting from all over the place.

[Mr_Sukebe]

The point about SACD is possibly a bit off topic, surely the question should be "should you listen to ANY music in surround sound".
Personally I find surround on most music to be really offputting. I remember hearing a DVD-A dem by Meridian a couple of years ago. Must have had close on £100k of active speakers in the room. The problem was that on the piano piece in question, it felt like you were sat right in the middle of the grand piano, which is just not a realistic presentation. I've yet to see any live band that's anywhere but infront of me, so two channel is spot on for my real requirements.

For all that, I did try listening to some Jean Michel Jarre in trifield recently, that actually worked.

[andy1249]

Yes it does depend on the title as to whether the actual surround mix works.

Some original stereo titles re-mixed for surround are awful , Harvest by Neil Young is one of them , the multichannel mix on DVD Audio is about as bad as it gets.

Some titles are just made for it , indeed some were originally conceived in the days of quadrophonic , Dark side of the moon is the obvious one.

Other titles which work in surround are

The flaming lips , Yoshimi battles the pink robots
Jeff waynes War of the Worlds
Roger waters In the flesh ( live show is quadrophonic or surround )

That type of thing , you can kind of get the picture from the titles , if they are your cup of tea then the surround mixes will work well for you.

Most titles on SACD , especially classical titles , dont actually go for surround but instead make use of the higher resolution.

In any case , you should give the music a listen the way it was meant to be heard. Its not for everyone , but downmixing a surround piece should be avoided at all costs , that really does sound terrible.
If its available in two channel and thats the way you want to listen , then stick with the two channel.

[Mark.Yudkin]

I'll stick to classical music SACDs as that's what I listen to and what I understand. Classical music SACDs are almost always mulitchannel hybrids: they have stereo CD, stereo SACD and mulitchannel SACD tracks, and all three tracks are designed for optimal reproduction in the corresponding circumstances. Only a few SACDs are remixed from stereo recordings, the reviews are generally poor (surprise!). There are some old quadrophonic recordings where of course the whole point of the SACD reissue is the chance to hear the 4.0 recording. There are also some 3.0 recordings, reissued on SACD with the same point. Most modern SACD recordings of classical music are multichannel recordings (offhand I can think of 1 small label, plus 3 exceptions from other labels, to that rule). For the classical music companies, multichannel ambience is the underlying justification for making an SACD recording, not higher resolution - andy1249's comment is incorrect as it applies to classical recordings from mainstream companies.

So if you have the equipment, listening to the multichannel track comes closest to the reason the recording was made that way.

[andy1249]

For the classical music companies, multichannel ambience is the underlying justification for making an SACD recording, not higher resolution - andy1249's comment is incorrect as it applies to classical recordings from mainstream companies.

I based what I said on whats available here ,

Amazon.co.uk: SACD - SACD: Music

[Vipers @ Zinc-HT]

I've managed to get around 10 SACD's at the moment from what I suppose you'd call popular rock and I'd love to expand my collection and would love to try a couple of classical discs but I really don't know where to begin.

Could someone please point me in the direction of a couple of classical discs that have been really well mastered in either surround or stereo with some music on that I may recognise, sorry for my ignorance, but this is my first steps into the world of classical and any pointers would be very welcome.

[Zorba_8]

Originally Posted by vipers

Could someone please point me in the direction of a couple of classical discs that have been really well mastered in either surround or stereo with some music on that I may recognise, sorry for my ignorance, but this is my first steps into the world of classical and any pointers would be very welcome.

Try this thread matey, it will give you plenty of suggestions to add to your collection:

SACD/DVD-A recommended discs?

[trailer]

If a multi channel disk has been specificaly recorded for multi channel rather than "mixed up to surround" then it is usually rather good. For instance Jean Michel Jarre's Aero. Live recordings can benefit from the multi channel experience too.

Anything recorded in stereo then mixed up is usually not so easy on the ear.

Given a choice I'd rather listen in stereo.